I learned the hard way about daily drivers...

ha! i forgot to post some pix
lemme get home.....

 

DD


Taco(4 my 15yr old if he gets off utube)


The Garage Queen(1 Owner RSTi swap)

 

yep....i get what your laying down

i was just rapping with a friend about each of our 'New' issues and potential solutions to fix....again.
she had an incredible statement tht says it all
"It's a DEEP passion/love and a DEEP spiteful hate"

ha ha ha

IMO
when projects/fixes go well(RARELY OCCURS)

still therapy for me in garage.

 

Hyundai calls it Rockwood green. It a green but with metallic red and gold in it, very subtle. Her's is the XRT version, sort of an off roady upgrade thing with taller tires. Turbocharged, AWD, and it flat scoots. All factory, I'm not touching it.

 

Bro sick subi…. Wow. Cool truck too

 

haha yeah at the end of the day it should be therapeutic messing with your car. Unfortunately for me it’s all been out of necessity and panic because I didn’t have another car to drive. Once I get a daily I’ll feel so much better about tweaking and tuning to my heart’s content

 

Well if everyone's doin it, here's my collection of active license plates.

This is my commuter shitbox:




This is the weekend warrior:





And then the wife keeps a little turbo.

 

Yeah there’s no way I would even consider making my 2003 a daily driver. Not only would gas murder me but the old girl has 250,000 miles on her and I want to keep her around for years and years. She’s regulated now to just taking off the trash once a week or doing stuff around my farm, so at the most she gets 5,000 miles a year on her. I still change the oil twice a year though no matter what, and keep up with all the maintenance (currently installing a new radiator on her). I also have a 2016 Camry and a 21 F150 I drive but I’m not getting rid of the Tacoma. I turn down offers constantly.

 

im partial to your wifey's ride!!
very nice

 

That little car is dangerous. It never really gets looked at by the journalistic experts as a true hot hatch, but it will hold a corner better than the Miata and it will get up and freaking scoot. Worse, it does the opposite effect of the Miata: my car will go 40 while making you think you're doing 80. The Maz3 will get up to 80 before you realize you exceeded 40.

 

My race friend had older generation 3 turbo (not AWD thou)
That thing was greasy fast
Was close but beat the RSTi NP

just bc we r TX
Sent u a pm

 

Man all these posts with the dailies vs the off road riggers is just proving my point that I approached this all wrong haha. You are living my dream my friend. Sweet rides all around

 

I know man I really don't want to get rid of my baby but I'm not doing her any favors driving her daily

 

The thing that convinced me was when I sat down and did the math. The trucks odometer is creeping ever closer to that six digit mark, and I had a lot of mods that I want to get some years out of. I can squeeze 18 mpg on it if I drive relatively grandma-ish through stop/go traffic, and yet a little convertible I can bang out 35mpg while flogging gears, cooking the clutch, and being a general dick. If I recategorized my Tacoma's insurance policy to occasional use, a mechanically good/cosmetically ugly commuter toy suddenly starts to pay for itself. Especially when you start to see that maintenance, parts, and consumables are also simpler and cheaper.


The only hard bit is convincing the wife that the truck needs to keep that "occasional use" status. She sees it in the garage and often decides to steal it for the day. And then she taunts me about it.

 

Under the header of a daily driver, I offer the following data/thoughts:

I had a 02 Lincoln Town Car as a sort of daily driver for 3 years and kept notes of the costs over this period. Here were the costs in 4 buckets:


Except for the time I took a stone chip breaking the front windshield and another time something shattered the sunnroof, my repair and maintenance costs were very low. The biggest costs are the operating costs with gas leading the way.

- I have found over the years; vehicles lose about $3,500 to $4,000 a year in value. The longer you hold a car, this number can decrease.

- Great reliability is paramount in keeping $'s down in the long run. There are some other makes (model specific) other than Toyota to consider. Don't buy a great deal on a model with poor reliability, you make up the difference in repair and maintenance costs over the long run.

- Maintenance pays for itself in costs and avoided headaches.

- Don't buy a high milage vehicle as your DD. You are rolling the dice no matter the make.

- Don't buy limited run vehicle as your DD; parts are too expensive.

- Insurance can be a hidden killer. The least cost insurance are minivans, then cars, then trucks/SUV's/crossovers. The older the vehicle, the cheaper the insurance. Don't buy a SUV that gets 19 mpg as your DD... You are just throwing away money.

- Annual state tags/tax can be a hidden killer too. The newer the vehicle, the higher the annual costs will be.

- A used EV is probably the best DD option out there if you can install a home (240v) charger. We have a 23 Chevy Bolt EUV that does everything we need except long distance (has a range of about 250 miles). You can get a used one with reasonable miles on them for not a lot, about what I paid for the Lincoln. Except for some slight battery degradation, they are very reliable; no worries about a transmission going out. The instant torque makes them fun to drive. A 2nd gen Leaf can work if 100 miles/day handles your commuting needs but not in places with sweltering heat.

- If you live in the colder climates, then consider a hybrid. Prius comes to mind because of the reliability but Toyota makes several hybrids that hold up well. We still have a 2012 Prius Prime that gets 47 mpg on the highway.

- Keep a toy in addition to a DD. This helps you accept the role of the DD. The spare $'s, when there is some, can go into the toy - but don't go overboard unless you have lots of disposable income. Toys can lose more $'s than a DD.

- Don't ignore your 401K/IRA. they get servicing before toys, etc.

- If you have limited disposable income, your 401K/IRA becomes your toy.

EDIT: I forgot another rule for me:
- Don't buy a vehicle older than 1997 because they do not have OBD II (although some 96 models later in their run had OBD II). This makes troubleshooting vehicle problems easier.

 

spacetiger
excellent advice and documentation!!!!!

 

I'm seriously considering importing an old Toyota Platz/Vitz due to their great gas mileage, low miles, and insane fuel economy. Parts are readily available here since they're the same as an Echo, and since they're so old insurance will be pretty cheap on them for being a DD. The truck is still great for getting stuff done, just not the work commute and guzzling gas down like crazy.

 

Good choice, you can always make another baby.